We would have every arbitrary barrier thrown down. We would have every path laid open to woman as freely as to man.
Margaret FullerRead
There exists in the minds of men a tone of feeling toward women as toward slaves.
Interpretation
The quote highlights the objectification and subjugation of women in society, comparing it to the treatment of slaves.
Margaret Fullerβs quote reflects on the deep-seated attitudes and biases that exist in society, where women are often viewed in a subordinate and dehumanized manner, akin to slaves. This comparison serves to illuminate the emotional and psychological toll of such perceptions, urging society to recognize and challenge these harmful dynamics to promote equality and respect for women's autonomy and humanity.
In practice
In a discussion about gender inequality, this quote can highlight the historical context of women's rights.
We would have every arbitrary barrier thrown down. We would have every path laid open to woman as freely as to man.
I fear I have not one good word to say this fair morning, though the sun shines so encouragingly on the distant hills and gentle river and the trees are in their festive hues. I am not festive, though contented. When obliged to give myself to the prose of life, as I am on this occasion of being established in a new home I like to do the thing, wholly and quite, - to weave my web for the day solely from the grey yarn.
Plants of great vigor will almost always struggle into blossom, despite impediments. But there should be encouragement, and a free genial atmosphere for those of more timid sort, fair play for each in its own kind.
Two persons love in one another the future good which they aid one another to unfold.
It was not meant that the soul should cultivate the earth, but that the earth should educate and maintain the soul.
It seems that it is madder never to abandon one's self than often to be infatuated; better to be wounded, a captive and a slave, than always to walk in armor.
Man inhabits a realm half in and half out of nature, his mind reaching forever beyond the tool, the uniformity, the law, into some realm which is that of the mind alone.
War is in fact the true nurse of executive aggrandizement
As for begging, it is safer to beg than to take, but it is finer to take than to beg
Men have always shown a dim knowledge of their better potentialities by paying homage to those purest leaders who taught the simplest and most inclusive rules for an undivided mankind.
Human rights, of course, must include the right to religious freedom, understood as the expression of a dimension that is at once individual and communitarian - a vision that brings out the unity of the person while clearly distinguishing between the dimension of the citizen and that of the believer.
Why does everyone take for granted that we don't learn to grow arms, but rather, are designed to grow arms? Similarly, we should conclude that in the case of the development of moral systems; there's a biological endowment which in effect requires us to develop a system of moral judgment and a theory of justice, if you like, that in fact has detailed applicability over an enormous range.
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